A quick 3 hour drive up the road from El Calafate is El Chalten, Argentina's premier trekking destination. Unbeknown to me I had booked at Rancho Grande hostel which was undergoing maintenance, so all guests were moved to the Poincenot Hotel next door, offering extremely good value as the price of the rooms remained the same. A group of Americans from the glacier trek also showed up for a similar few days trekking.
The town, which feels like is half under construction ahead of the looming tourist season, caters predominantly for trekkers wishing to visit the Fitzroy mountain range and the surrounding area. The Fitzroy range itself is somewhat similar to TDP, although in my opinion not as impressive. I quickly checked in to my room grabbing few pointers off another Aussie bloke who had spent a few days in the area and headed off to squeeze a 6 hour hike in before sunset.
With the goal of reaching one of the two main viewpoints, a frozen lake and glacier at Lago Torre, I made my way through the forest making the most of fresh patches of snow to substitute my lack of water. A few groups of trekkers making the return route had vastly different ideas of how far I was from the lake, yet they all seemed to be walking at the same pace. This strange knocking sound through some stages of the trail turned out to be woodpeckers furiously smahing their beaks against trees and fallen logs, the little fellas were more than happy for me to come up and grab a few snaps of my first encounter with such animal since watching Woody as a young fella.
Eventually I reached the lake after passing further through a grassland and along a glacial stream, Its icy surface looked inviting at parts although a few rocks hurled from above indicated that I probably should not risk a very cold bath. The glacier at the end would have been more impressive had I not experienced Perito Moreno the day before, though it still made a great view none the less.
Back at the hostel we had planned to go and check out the local micro brewery, much to our disappointment it was not opening until the tourist season in a few weeks. I had to settle with a big juicy steak and a magnum of red from the local supermarket which managed to fill the gap nicely.
The next and final day in Chalten involved a roughly 8 hour hike up to a viewpoint of the Fitzroy Range at Lago De Los Torres. The hiking itself was very similar to the day before until around 45 minutes before the mirrador(viewpoint), where a steep icy hill loomed before us. I had caught up with the Americans at this point who were in an encouraging way, trying to talk themselves out of it. Clambering over the snow and ice, making very slow progress, I eventually made it to the top for a great view down across the lake lands. then carefully manoeuvring my way across an ice hill (with one wrong step sliding you down over the edge to the unknown) and up another small hill, provided a magnificent view of the Fitzroy rocky pillars and the frozen lake below. Trekkers from earlier that day had mad a snowman and a big rock provided for a breathtaking and dry position to enjoy my bag of pasta lunch before heading back down to town.
holiday activity in the country. The two classic trekking routes either to Everest base camp or the Annapurna circuit are not easy and the challenge you'll face on either route will have a lasting effect. The Manaslu route trek around the world's eighth largest mountain is more remote but no less beautiful passing through stunning bamboo forests, villages filled with prayer flags and culminating with spectacular views from Larkya La. Mustang is an easier cultural trek, suitable for those with good general fitness but not necessarily any previous trekking experience. The language, culture and tradition of the Mustang region are still mostly Tibetan making this one of the most culturally interesting treks. There are shorter treks up the Langtang Valley and Helambu which are still hard work but also deeply rewarding. They generally begin in Kathmandu, leading through large grazing areas covered in flowers, dotted with stone huts used for butter making, Sherpa, Tamang villages and the homes of yak herders, right up to the Tibetan border.
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